When I was searching for a health care provider at the beginning of my pregnancy, I chose a obstetrician without a second thought. The list of covered providers for my insurance did not include any midwives and I assumed that using one would require giving birth at home. My impression of what home birth might look like did not seem appealing at all. The decision at the time was easy.
Since then I have learned more about certified nurse-midwives and certified midwives. They are trained to respond to complications in labor and delivery, and consult with physicians when appropriate. They are also not limited to merely assisting with home births. They care for women in all stages of life and you are not required to give birth at home if you choose a midwife. Midwives can provide their services through a hospital or a birthing center as well.
If you are thinking about using a midwife for your pregnancy instead of an obstetrician, you might be wondering how to determine whether it is the right option for you. Now there is a quiz available on DeliverMyBaby.org that will help you determine who you should choose and also provide a list of questions to ask before making your decision.
I took it for a test run (pretending I was pregnant again for the sake of this blog) and (surprise!) I was matched with a midwife. However I feel that the quiz was a little biased towards midwives to begin with. I anticipated this a little bit since it is sponsored by the American College of Nurse-Midwives Foundation. Some of the questions, rather than being more open ended, only provided two answers that inferred that midwives will automatically provide more personal care with less interventions and that an obstetrician will keep appointments short, offer impersonal care, and push interventions. This may be true in some circumstances, but this was not my experience with my obstetrician. While I had some necessary interventions, I was also allowed to walk around, push at my discretion, and hold my baby immediately following the birth. According to the quiz, it seemed that these options were only available to patients of nurse midwives.
The most valuable tool offered by DeliverMyBaby.org is not the quiz, but rather the free questionnaires that you can print off and bring to the doctor or midwife’s office when choosing a provider. These offer great questions to ask and I believe the answers you receive from each individual provider will better help you to decide who you want assisting with your pregnancy and birth.